Expand Your Monitor's Longetivy

Back in the heyday of monochrome monitors, screensavers kept characters (such as DOS's "C:\" prompt) and images from being permanently burned into the screen. Today's monitors aren't as susceptible to screen burn. In fact, using a screensaver may actually shorten the life of your monitor. Your best bet for prolonging your monitor's life is to shut it off when you're not using it. For most monitors, Windows can be set to automatically power down the screen after a period of inactivity. In Windows 98 and Me, click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Power Management and select a time from the drop-down menu next to 'Turn off monitor' under the Power Schemes tab. The applet is called Power Options in Windows 2000 and XP, but the steps are about the same.